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Month: June 2013

Zombie costume collecting dust and cobwebs in your closet? Dying to put your best Zombie face on? Well! Have we got an opportunity for you to dawn your Zombie finest! In the next few weeks, a well known Toronto band will be shooting a music video and they need Zombies!

If you are interested in finding out more info, email me at lizzieviolet13@gmail.com. Please include your phone number along with your email address.

Like this:

I really wish someone would start a campaign called ‘Size Beautiful’. A campaign to teach women to love their bodies no matter what size or shape they are. Society has us so brainwashed into thinking we have to be a size zero to be accepted, that we will starve ourselves to look that way and this has to STOP! I’m a curvy girl. I’m smart, attractive, creative and most importantly healthy. I’m NOT a SIZE! I refuse to be a SIZE! When someone asks me what size I am, I always say ‘I’m this size.’ Women all around the world also need to stop being sizes! Be healthy!

I’m a recovering Bulimic. I suffered in my teens and twenties, because I also thought I needed to be a certain ‘size’. In the process I screwed up my metabolism and my health. I’ve since fixed my physical health and hopefully most of my mental health since accepting I’m not a ‘size’. We place so much importance on size that we forget the most important things are being healthy and taking care of ourselves. As a curvy girl and a Vegan, I constantly get this question. ‘You’re a Vegan, but you aren’t….. (they pause because they can’t say it, SKINNY). I always respond, ‘I’m Vegan and I eat well.’ I have an incredibly healthy diet, I am active (though no athlete) and have no health issues, my body isn’t meant to be thin, or muscular or any other shape than this shape. I’m proud that to be this shape. I LOVE that I have curves.

There was a time when society coveted curvy women. Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Mae West and Jayne Mansfield were idolized by all. Women wanted to be like them and men wanted them. These women couldn’t keep men out of their beds. When did this stop? It never should have. Where along the way did society stop believing that women shouldn’t have curves? We need to take a step back, look at woman as a woman, not as some image a magazine portrays as what a woman needs to look like. If you are one of those people who won’t date, befriend or love a woman because of her size, try looking beyond the package and you will see you are missing out on being with a fabulous human being. You are missing out on someone who is beautiful both inside and out. I grew up being told over and over again by my father that everyone is beautiful, no matter what their packaging is. I never used to ‘get it’, but I do now. He’s right.

Wait! Wait one darn minute! Why am I waiting for someone else to start this campaign? Let’s all start it right here, right now! Stop being a size. Start being healthy. Be size beautiful.

Hello all you sexy people! July is gearing up to be another hot and sizzling month of Awesome! Check out these events I am involved in!

July 3

The WordSpell Collective, in conjunction with Cytopoetics, presents the July edition of WordSpell showcase and open mic. The series brings together talented established and emerging female spoken word artists.

We are back with our bi-monthly showcase that features some of the hottest female voices in spoken word. This edition is extra special as it comes right after PRIDE month, so we give a loving shout out to our LGBTTQII2S friends.

We select our features from within Toronto because this city has deep pockets of talent! Come hang out with your poetry fam at the 5th and FINAL show of the FIRST season featuring the wonderfully talented voices of Krystle Mullin and Barbara Erochina.

There will also be an OPEN MIC, open to women, after the feature sets.

Free Times Cafe | 320 College Street
Doors open at 7:30pm | Open Mic sign up at 8| Show at 8:30
Tickets at door: $6 and up
ALL ages & genders welcome in the audience!

KRYSTLE MULLIN is a veteran of the Toronto spoken word scene and has been performing her energetic and enigmatic poetry for almost a decade. In 2009 she had the distinct honour of representing Ontario in the CBC ‘s National Poetry Face-Off. She is a 3-time member of the Toronto Slam Team and has been a feature performer at esteemed festivals such as Hillside, The Eden Mills Writers’ Festival and The Words Aloud Festival of Authors.

BARBARA EROCHINA is a queer artist, pastor and community organizer. Grounded in formal training both in creative writing and theatre, she is interested in using Spoken Word as a platform for the weaving together of the broken and the beautiful. Her poetry explores themes of meaning, love, personal and community empowerment, sex, faith(lessness), and family, all through the lens of personal narrative. Though she has been up on stage with the Toronto Poetry Slam, Bill Brown and the Women of the World Slam Qualifier, this is Barbara’s first feature in her journey with Spoken Word. She lives in Toronto with her partner Tanya, and their street-cat George.

** Everyone is encouraged to patronize Free Times before, during and after the show! www.freetimescafe.com **

July 12/13

July 12 – Prelims
Open Minds Respect Events and Cytopoetics present two preliminary bouts on the road to crowning the 2013 Ontario Poetry Slam Champions.

July 14

We will have limited open mic spots (for poets, performers and musicians). Sign up starts at 7.

This is a PWYC event. (suggested price $5)
Location: Q Space on College (382 College Street)

~Trasharella is a Toronto-based actor/writer/visual artist. He has had work published in Resistance Poetry 2, Labour of Love, Excalibur Monthly, Xtra! & The Body Politic. She has featured at Plasticine Poetry, A Space, The Beautiful and the Damned, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Toronto Pride, Lula Lounge, The Gladstone Hotel & the Theatre Centre. She won the Best Actor award at the London One Act Festival for “The Judy Monologues”.

~Toronto-based writer Greg “Ritallin” Frankson is a respected poet, arts educator and media personality. In 2012, Ritallin won the national team poetry slam championship with Toronto Up From The Roots and placed second at the Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. Greg’s debut collection Cerebral Stimulation was published in 2006, and his words have appeared in numerous anthologies, compilation CDs, chapbooks and musical collaborations. Greg is the resident poet for CBC Toronto’s afternoon radio show Here and Now, and appeared on CBC TV’s Canada’s Smartest Person in 2012. Through his creative services consultancy Cytopoetics, Greg works with youth in schools and community as a presenter and performer, and with businesses and social services agencies as a facilitator, speaker and creative services consultant.

~Toronto based musician Marcus Walker is an exceptional singer-songwriter and a captivating artist. He has earned a reputation for engaging and energetic performances that range from sensitive ballads to all out rock and/or roll. His infectious style reflects a dynamicism unlike any other, making it difficult to define his overall sound but the music is grounded in his compelling lyrics and spirited performances.

Lizzie Violet’s June Noir officially kicked off summer with a night of sizzling poets, musicians, & burlesque to a packed and eager audience. First feature Ellie Anderson stepped out from behind her guitar with a warm set of poems. She openly shares her struggles with fame, body image & sexuality without letting politics or anger get in the way. At times playful: ‘I would find June in the middle of winter’ – at times ironic ‘I would sell my integrity at half price to those who can raise me to the right hight’ – at times heartbreaking ‘on the day I met you it snowed – I didn’t know till then how could love could be.’

Next up was Blue Venus – traffic delays didn’t faze them. Andrea, with guitarist Jessica Stuart, did a fine summery set of original work. Their sound is refreshing without losing emotional impact…